[WEB4LIB] RE: "Piracy is Progressive Taxation"

[Joseph Murphy]

On Friday, December 20, 2002, at 11:33  AM, Dobbs, Aaron wrote:

> "I think Baen's doing the right thing in every way, and has the 
> numbers to prove it, but let's remember that one of their motives is 
> profit." -JM (see original message below for context)
>
> Someone please remind me again, why is profit bad?

Profit, for lack of a better word, is good. I didn't mean to suggest 
anything to the contrary. In fact, what  impresses me most of all is 
that Baen is loudly, and repeatedly, pointing out that this kind of 
"file sharing" is demonstrably _good_ for their business. What I did 
want to point out is that the profit motive is the crucial distinction 
between a publisher's "free" online offerings and a Project Gutenberg 
or Eldritch Press.

I'm not sure that finding a new way to make profit makes Jim Baen that 
much different from other businessmen. He made a decision in the face 
of naysayers, and stuck with it when it proved profitable. But does it 
make him a "different flavor" of publisher... or just better at it?

(Or is "better" different enough? Let's be honest, it's more likely to 
change the publishing world than white papers from the ALA. I think I 
read too much into Lynne's original post. In fairness, I've never met 
the man, and for all I know, he could be a saint, as well as a smart 
cookie.)

-Joe Murphy
Librarian and Technology Consultant
Library and Information Services
Kenyon College
murphyjm at kenyon.edu
740/427-5120